The Department of Media, Humanities and the Arts at the University of Huddersfield are currently inviting applications for 12 full scholarships for PhDs as part of the Amplification Project, a programme that is being funded by a Leverhulme Trust International Professorship grant and will be beginning in April 2025.
The scholarships are open to applicants from the UK or overseas — the successful candidate will be required to be resident in or near Huddersfield during the PhD — who are engaged in research on any subject related to amplification and its contribution to music cultures. Projects may be analytical, theoretical, socio-cultural, empirical, historical or ethnomusicological. Relevant topics might include but are not limited to:
- The role of the amplifier and associated technologies in musical practice, listener experience and social/cultural life;
- Studies involving loudspeakers or microphones;
- Musical instrument amplifiers;
- Pedals and effects and their relationships with amplification;
- History of science and technology focused on amplification technical design and engineering;
- Music cultural studies analysing broad cultural trends related to amplification
- Ethnography or ethnomusicology projects focused on amplification related material;
- Oral history research focused on amplification related stories
- Music theory or analysis related to amplification;
- The relation of DJ cultures and electronic music dance cultures to amplification;
- Soundsystem cultures related to Jamaican or hip hop cultures;
- A focus on the role of amplification in rock or metal;
- Studies focused on amplification and music cognition;
- Research that explores amplification related material in terms of environment and architectural acoustics in public and private space including music venues;
- Amplification and musical instrument design and performance;
- The role of amplification and related technologies in keyboards and synthesizers;
- Microphones, vocal technique and performance;
- Public address systems and loudspeakers in music cultures;
- Amplification and the experience of social belonging and community;
- Intersections of amplification technology and practice with gender, ethnicity, class, disability and other areas of identity politics;
- Amplification in specific cultures, communities, subcultures, scenes, regions or countries;
- Meaning and belief;
- Cultural value or wellbeing.
The university say that projects should relate to music rather than other uses of amplification. The successful candidate’s primary affiliation will be within the Popular Music Studies Research Group (PMSRG), which is part of the Centre for Research in Music and its Technologies (CRMT). The PMSRG is a hub for research around popular music.
The successful candidate can expect:
- Full payment of tuition fees.
- An annual stipend at RCUK rates for 4 years, currently £19,237 per year.
- Full-time PhD study for four years beginning in April 2025.
- Supervision from relevant staff, including, if appropriate to the research project, some support from Leverhulme Trust International Professor, Steve Waksman.
- Opportunities for contribution to the Amplification Project, collaborative projects, publication and the possibility of gaining teaching experience.
- Access to the Teaching Assistant Preparation Programme (TAPP), which can lead to the qualification of Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA).
- Access to additional financial support through the Postgraduate Support Fund of the School of Arts and Humanities.
The closing date for applications is 24 January 2025. More information on how to apply for the programme can be found via the links below.